Beneath the Mountain Cold
by MHCynogriffon
Summary: Three dwarves are out trapping in Mirkwood when they make a surprising catch. A young elf, golden haired and blue eyed. Stumped as to what to do, the dwarves take him back to Erebor where King Thror recognizes the elf as the son of his enemy, King Thranduil.


**Here's something new! Comment if you guys want me to continue it, I'm not really certain if anyone will like this or not.**

The forest was eerily quiet as the three dwarves trespassed nervously through the thick trees. Not an insect buzzed among the freshly bloomed wildflowers that grew alongside the moss at the base of the trees, nor were there any songbirds chirping merrily from the branches. Not even the sound of small creatures such as rabbits and moles could be heard. It was as if the Greenwood knew that the dwarves were up to no good underneath the canopy of leaves and blossoms.

The dwarf leading the way, a stout, sturdy man named Din, had a heavy leather pack strapped across his strong shoulders. Whatever was inside clanked with each step he took. His brothers, Fin and Bin, carried simple crossbows fitted with sharpened bolts ready to fire. All three kept glancing around as if someone or something might be watching them.

"Are you sure about this, Din?" Fin asked, running a sweaty hand through his braided brown locks, "I've heard that this forest is cursed. Folks call it Mirkwood know cause of the darkness inside it."

Din rolled his eyes, "Pshaw, what a load of horse shit. Curses ain't real and this is just a few trees. Now get your shit together and help me set up this trap."

Fin, still not fully convinced, helped Din take off the pack before opening it to reveal several various kinds of iron traps. He pulled out one that looked like a clamp with sharp ridged teeth lining the inside. Prying it apart, he set it down and covered it with a few leaves. Stepping back to admire his work, Fin turned to Din and said, "I'll bet theses animals have never seen a trap in their lives, what with the Elves banning them from the forest and all, they should just walk right into them."

Din grinned and opened his mouth to speak when a sudden clang! echoed throughout the forest, followed by a horrible animalistic scream.

"I think we got something!" Bin shouted excitedly, rushing back with his brothers to check on their previously laid traps. They crashed through the underbrush with no thought to who might hear them, leaping over their untriggered traps until they reached the clearing where they had laid their best trap. It was larger than the rabbit trap they had just set, but made the same way. Ment for deer, the iron clamps easily held the ankle of the elf that was struggling to get out of its grip. The teeth had closed deep into his pale skin and blood spurted up from the wound, pooling on the ground and staining the grass a dark crimson. The elf, who looked rather young to the dwarves, let loose another howl of agony, twisting his leg and straining to open the clamps far enough to get free. Bin and Fin turned to Din, their eyes questioning their leader. Din's mouth was agape and he could only stutter out, "Well...Shit."

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"Din what do we do?" questioned Fin frantically, "This wasn't supposed to happen!"

The three dwarves were huddled on the outskirts of the clearing whispering to one another nervously. The elf had yet to notice them as he struggled vainly to escape. Din turned to watch the elf and said quietly, "I don't know. We can't let him go, he'll tell the other elves that we were out trapping illegally in these woods. And we can't have that."

"So what do we do?" Fin asked again, throwing up his hands in exasperation, "This whole thing was your idea, Din. So why don't you get us out of this mess?"

Din glared at him, "Well, I suppose we could kill him. Then no one would know."

"We can't do that!" Fin practically yelled, finally catching the attention of the elf, "That'd be a hundred times worse!"

The dwarves turned to stare at the elf who had fixed them with a steely glare. His piercing blue eyes making them shiver. Dain stepped forward and addressed the elf sternly, "Elf, if we let you go, will you tell anyone about this?"

He gestured to the trap. The elf remained silent, but began to sneer at them.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." Din mumbled underneath his breath before looking back at his brothers, "I guess we could take him back to Erebor, fix him up and then figure out what to do with him."

Fin and Bin looked uncertain, "I don't know, we can't sneak him in and everyone will know what we did."

Din shrugged, "They won't care. So are we going to do this or not?"

Fin and Bin nodded their assent and Din turned back to the elf who was still struggling, "Just stay still for a second."

He grabbed a crossbow from Fin and whacked the elf across the head with it, knocking him out instantly.


End file.
